The SlozBlog Travel Logs

Issue #7 "Motmot Mixup" (June 7th 2006)

I know, I know....I can hear the angry murmuring out there. "What? Another Issue on Motmots? You just did one on Motmots! Is that the only bird in Costa Rica? Calm down. This is a special emergency issue as we have discovered something truly unique and it just happens to involve motmots.

For those of you whose curiosity about motmots extends only so far as: A) What is the best way to cook a motmot? and B) What wine do you serve with toasted motmot? Let me lay a little background.

There are 9 species of motmots (the name is Aztec for "Feathered Bugger That Always Craps in the Cooking Pot") and are only found in tropical America, mostly in Mexico and Central America. The sexes share an almost identical appearance in all species, but fortunately the birds themselves seem capable of sorting out the confusion. The male and female share nesting duties, from digging their nesting burrow that extends 2-3 feet into a vertical bank, to sitting on their clutch of 2-5 glossy white eggs for about 3 weeks and finally feeding the hatchlings a variety of insects, lizards and frogs until they fledge from the burrow at 3-4 weeks of age.

Issue #6 "The Motmot Parade" (May 2nd 2006)

Las Cruces Biological Station is situated at mid-elevation of 3,800 ft along a ridge of the costal Zapote mountain range about 2 km from the Costa Rica-Panama border (as the toucan flies). Covering 657 acres, it is home to more than 2,000 species of native plants, 400 bird species and 800 species of butterflies. Amphibians, reptiles and mammals are well represented with 38 species of bats alone! It is recognized by UNESCO as part of the Amistad Biosphere Reserve. Las Cruces is one of three biological stations owned and operated by OTS or the Organization for Tropical Studies. OTS is a consortium of more than 65 universities around the world with an interest in the flora and fauna of various tropical ecosystems. The other two OTS stations are at La Selva and Palo Verde. The station encompass the Robert & Catherine Wilson Botanical Garden which was created in 1963 on land that had been previously cleared for cattle and subsistence farming.We had heard about this spot from a fellow at Trogon Lodge who was telling us about the birds in the area and especially the Blue-crowned Motmot, which is common around the station. Being prototypical Motmot groupies, we decided to make a stop on the way back from Tiskita to Arenal and a three day planned visit turned into 6 days and put this spot firmly on our list of favorites in Costa Rica.

The Blue-crowned Motmot and the star of the show at Las Cruces

Showing off on a branch, the typical "racquet club tail" can be seen

As elegant as these guys are, they are not afraid to "get down and dirty"
scuffling through the dirt and leaves for an insectile tidbit

We were very excited to find a pair of motmots nesting. They lay 3-4 eggs in
a 5-14ft deep tunnel that they have dug out in an exposed road bank or stream
bank. This fellow (males and females are identical except the female often sports
a gold tennis bracelet) has a fresh cicada for the kids and is about to jump up into
the nest hole which is indicated by the white arrow. How do we find the nests? Well,
Jeanie has bravely volunteered to stick her hand deep into any holes we run across to
explore for motmot living rooms. Sure, she comes up with an irate poisonous snake or
two, but that kind of incident never kept Jacques Cousteau from sending his son into
life threatening situations and I can be every bit as stern and brave as Jacques, even
without the little red barrette.

Our intrepid provider enters the nest, cicada and all

The largest of the CR parakeets, the Crimson-fronted Parakeet is commonly
seen (and heard!) in the gardens

A Violaceous Trogon (a relative of the Resplendent Quetzal but with a shorter
tail and a less talented PR agent) meditates in the afternoon sunshine

In a parting shot, a Western Kingbird comes in for a landing after snagging a
final insect before turning in for the night at Las Cruces.

Well fellow birdbrains, that's all for this issue. It is 6:30am here at Villa Incognito at the Arenal Observatory Lodge, the howler monkey morning chorus is in full voice and looks like a drizzly day. Perfect for catching up on video and image editing. Nesting season is in full swing here and we have some great still and video images of of trogons, white-fronted nunbirds, tanagers, hummers and a host of others preparing to usher in the next generation of wings over Arenal. In the next issue, we will bring you a bit of that adventure.

Issue #5 "Manakin Madness" (April 11th 2006)

As I write this, the sun is rising in a perfectly clear blue sky, the morning symphony of owl hoots, bird calls and the snoring of the man in the room next door surround me. His nocturnal vocalizations are unique in that they not only have the capability of penetrating solid walls, but offer the unusual auditory combination of a wounded wildebeest, chainsaw and the soothing timbres of Joan River's voice. Thank goodness for earplugs!

We are presently at the Las Cruces Biological Station which is located along a spur ridge of the Zapote Range just a short distance north of the Panama border. It lies at an elevation of 1,100 meters (that's 12,456 gallons to those of you who haven't mastered the metric system yet). We will be here for 6 days before returning to Arenal, but more about the fantastic birding here in the next issue. Since this is the first access to the internet since leaving Tiskita, this issue will cover a bit of our two week stay with Peter and Lizbeth Aspinall at the Tiskita Jungle Lodge and Wildlife Emporium.

The drive from San Jose to Tiskita takes about 11hrs, not counting bathroom stops, bird sightings and near-death Inter american Highway experiences. To break the trip up, we stopped at the Trogon Lodge to see what the Quetzals were up to and were fortunate enough to find a mating pair of the little beauties. The Lodge is at about 8,500ft elevation in the Telemanca Mountains and a great spot to chase Quetzals.

Here is the male of the nesting pair of Quetzals

Enough about those foppy quetzals in the mountains though, it's time to descend into the steamy jungles of the Dulfo Dulce area and bring you a bit about the sordid birdie sex at the Tiskita Jungle Lodge. Ha! Now I've got your attention. The main thing that we were hoping to see at this time of year is the mating dance of the red-capped manakin. It was described to us by Peter as a cross between the Michael Jackson Moonwalk and Brittany Spears on a heavy dose of methamphetamine. The RCM (as we professional bird sex aficionados fondly refer to the little guys) is one of a group of birds that form a "Lek" at mating time, which is a small geographic area in which they perform their mating dances, mate, nest and generally have a wild time. This is not unlike Ft. Lauderdale used to be during Spring Break in the old days. Most manikins Lek as do many hummingbirds and this makes it easy to observe their mating behavior.

Here's the male RCM sporting his bright yellow pantaloons and keeping a
sharp eye out for a comely young female.

The mating dance starts with the male bouncing like a little ping pong ball from branch to branch, chirping loudly and making an incredible clacking sound with his tail feathers that sounds like a loud hand clap. It is hard to believe that a bird this small can make such a loud sound. He then zooms onto his favorite "dancing branch" and dances backwards and forwards with his feet shuffling in a blur.

Here, the RCM is in full "moonwalk mode" zipping backwards down the branch,
head down, pupils pinpoint and his yellow panted legs flying. Surely a sight
that no red blooded female RCM could resist!

The females sit around the Lek and watch the proceedings with some interest looking for the best dancer and best outfit.

The performance concludes with a bow, a loud chirp and a gracious wave to
the assembled female (and photographic) admirers.

Very excited by the whole performance, the female RCM flies down to the stream
to cool off with a quick bath.

In addition to the RCMs, we saw mating and nesting of toucans, 3 species of woodpeckers, streaked flycatchers and hummingbirds.

An expectant chestnut mandible toucan sits on her nest in a hollowed out tree

A band tailed hummer waits for her eggs to hatch

Well, that's all for now. Time for breakfast and then off to check out a nesting pair of blue-crowned motmots and a blue-crowned manakin
Lek. A bird voyeur's work is never done. Here's a parting shot for you from Tiskita:

A baby squirrel monkey has a bit of lunch while mom gives me the Evil Eye

Issue #4 (March 2006)

Brace yourselves! We're back! The lovely Doña Jeanie and I arrived back in Costa Rica on the 21st and have been busy here in San Jose picking up our new Toyota 4 runner Slozmobile, getting insurance, setting up a bank account, getting lost in San Jose, terrifying motorbike drivers, chasing pedestrians down the sidewalk.....the usual. We are not sure what the future will bring, but our plans at present are to reverse our travel pattern, living in Costa Rica at the Observatory Lodge most of the time and traveling back to Florida from time to time. Before heading back to the Observatory Lodge to settle in, we leave today for a couple of nights at the Trogon Lodge atop the Telemanca mountain range to look for Quetzals in mating plumage and then on to Tiskita Jungle Lodge near the Panama border for a couple of weeks to view and get photos and video of the nesting behavior there. We are particularly interested in seeing the mating dance of the Red capped Manakin. Peter Aspinall describes it as a "Moonwalk" kind of dance. Boy, Jacko sure does get around. As there is no internet connection where we are headed, we will have to wait until we return to the San Jose area in April to post our first "official" SlozBlog of the year. Until then, stay well and make sure you read all the fine print on any discount organ transplant contracts that you sign.

One of the World Famous Swimming Pool Froggies of Tiskita Jungle Lodge

Issue #3 (Nov-Dec 2005)

Greetings from the Arenal Observatory Lodge where the Volcano is active, the wildlife plentiful and visitors seldom hike naked through the jungle. The monkey population is profoundly grateful for this fact as they inexplicably find our pale, hairless bodies laughable if not downright repulsive. I guess that there is just no accounting for taste.

Volcan Arenal arose about 3,700 years ago, but lay dormant for about 450 years before coming to life again in a huge eruption on July 29 th , 1968. Rocks, lava and ash from this event erased the towns of Tabicon and Pueblo Nuevo, killing 78 people. An area of more than 12 sq km was affected and the volcano has remained continuously active since that time. While those persons incinerated in the original blast would probably disagree, local residents have found the volcano to be a boon, creating a huge tourist industry in the area. It has generated numerous hotels, lodges, cabinas and restaurants (all with the words “volcano”, “eruption ” , “lava” or “Cable TV” in their names). Such diverse items as the Inferno Disco, the infamous “Volcano Burger”, Volcano shaped mounds of fried rice and Senora Juanita’s “Casa de Caliente Senoritas” have all gotten into the spirit of things. I have only heard about Senora Juanita’s establishment second hand as my sense of adventure does not extend to getting on the wrong end of a machete wielded by my lovely wife, Jeanie or “ Steppin ’ Razor” as she was fondly nicknamed by her fellow inmates in the Kingston Prison.

There are two schools of thought as to the source of this volcanic activity. The academic community, which includes such disreputable characters as vulcanologists and geologists, puts forth wild theories involving tectonic plates, magma domes and pressure gradients. We all know that this is merely a scam to allow them to continue receiving Federal grants which in turn support their shameless lifestyle of fast cars, endless karaoke bars and enigmatic (or is that “pneumatic”?) young grad students.

We true scientists know that the real explanation for volcanic activity around the globe relates entirely to the Volcano God, Ralph. It seems that when Ralph becomes irritated with his wife, Zelda, he follows the course of all self-respecting divine beings, wreaking havoc upon the unsuspecting human populace. This takes the form of superheated gases and molten rock, not unlike some of the experimental vegetarian dishes that my lovely wife, Jeanie has prepared.

Whether our gratitude is due to Zelda or to wayward tectonic plates, the Arenal volcano is truly a spectacular sight and I am forwarding a few of my favorite volcano shots for your enjoyment and as a token of appeasement to Ralph, The All Seeing, All Knowing and Ever Irritable (All Praise and All Virgins Ever Be To Ralph !! ). If I inadvertently left out any of His honorary titles, I hope that I will be forgiven and not suffer the embarrassment of hot rocks raining down upon me or my camera equipment.

This is the view of Volcan Arenal from the window of our room at the Observatory Lodge. It is a classically shaped volcano and two distinct peaks can be seen. The area presently active is the rounded double peak to the left. The lava was flowing on the other side of the volcano for about 2 years and switched over to this side about ten months ago. Naturally, the lava flow and the hotel cash flow closely coincide and I have recently verified that the most recent change in lava flow was brought about by a few quiet human sacrifices. This might seem a bit harsh, but they were middle aged tourists from Nebraska , had no plans for the day and were led to believe that they were going on a “picnic”.

 

Sunrise and sunset are great times to photograph the volcano because it is light enough to see the shapes and rocks, but the lava still glows red. This sunrise shot (about 5am) shows both of the left vents active with constant smoke from the one on the right reflecting the rising sun and a “poof”, as we scientists refer to it, emanating from the vent to the left. Due to the delay in sound traveling the 1.7km between the volcano and the lodge, you see the blast first and then hear the sound which is akin to a 747 taking off. About 10-15 seconds after the sound, hot lava rocks begin to roll down the slope and the sound of these rocks striking other rocks and unwary tourists can be clearly heard.

 

It took about fifty tries to get this shot during an afternoon thunderstorm, but I assured Jeanie that it was well worth the risk of her holding up that metal pole at the top of the crater. Her hair was slightly singed and she didn’t speak to me for about a week, but the upside was that she was able to recharge our AA batteries by simply holding them in her hand a la Uncle Fester.

 

The volcano creates its’ own weather by diverting the humid hot air from the surrounding jungle up the steep slopes to cooler altitudes where cloud formation follows. Even on a crystal clear night like this, Clouds can form along the slope. This is a one minute long exposure and thus the flowing lava lines, softness of the moving clouds and smoke and the slight movement of the stars overhead. We have been fortunate to have had several clear nights like this, but the clear spells often last only a few minutes to half an hour. In case you were wondering, I did jump out of bed about 3am to get this shot and I was attired only in my hiking boots. Several of my fellow guests made a few rude remarks, but quieted down quickly when I approached them and explained all about The Great God, Ralph.

 

In the daytime, the “poof” noted above (sorry for all the technical language) appears as a rapidly rising column of dark smoke, but at night you can see the ejected molten rocks arcing through the night sky. Some of these rocks can be as large as a smallish hippopotamus and create a beautiful fireworks show. You know, I might be the only one in history to link lava and hippopotami in the same sentence !

 

That’s all for now, but here is a parting shot of a beautiful Broad-billed Motmot that I photographed this afternoon in the primary forests of El Silencio.

 

Issue #2 (Nov-Dec 2005)

Hola from the Arenal Observatory Lodge in beautiful Costa Rica . This is the second issue of the Slozblog Travel Log. Before moving on to the action here in Arenal, I’d like to do one more episode about Tiskita. Travel to and from the Tiskita Jungle Lodge (located in extreme Southwestern Costa Rica, just across from the Osa peninsula) is a bit of adventure in itself. The first time we went in September of this year, we journied by 4x4 accompanied by our good friends Mike Raiman and Lynn Ottimer .   We broke up the 12 hour drive along the Pan American highway with a two day stopover at the Trogan lodge nestled at 8,500 feet in the Telemanca mountains . The scenery there is beautiful and it is a great place to see the fantastic Quetzal bird.   This trip, we decided to fly down and chartered a twin prop Piper Aztec from San Jose to a small strip on the Southern tip of the Osa Peninsula called Puerto Jimenez. The flight takes about 45 minutes and the scenery 8,000 ft. below the plane was beautiful, particularly the rivers and the Telemanca mountains themselves. In order to cross the gulf between Puerto Jimenez and Tiskita, we crammed all our junk aboard a single engine Cessna for the 8 minute flight. The mother of Tiskita’s owner, Peter Aspinall, is an amazing lady by the name of Doña Zeida . She was a pilot and had a small grass landing strip cut out of the jungle just below the lodge. Landings and takeoffs from this strip are exciting, but the bush pilot who owns the plane has done it hundreds of times and was a real pro.

After a three week stay, we were scheduled to leave Tiskita on Nov 23 rd , but got rained in. The morning of Thanksgiving the 24 th dawned clear and bright and we were off on our return trip to San Jose and then on to the Observatory Lodge where we will be staying until Dec 19 th . Actually, Jeanie will be flying home in a couple of days to get things ready for the annual Knox School Christmas Party and fundraiser and to relieve Virginia, our intrepid housesitter who has been looking after the Kittymen and dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma (including Jeanie’s new pancake shaped Oldsmobile) …..but that’s a whole other story. I’ll be on my own here until the 19 th , but probably won’t get into too much trouble (darn it ! ).

Enough cyberblabber , time for a few more images from Tiskita

One of the star attractions at Tiskita is a flock of 35 scarlet macaws. This is a project to reintroduce these beautiful birds back into this area. The birds were either donated or had been confiscated by the government and are being returned to the wild. They have not yet begun breeding, but as they live 50-60 years and have a “dating” and bonding period of 4-5 years before laying their first eggs, there is still plenty of time to raise their families. Unlike humans, they mate for life but given their long bonding period before mating, this is not surprising. They eat a wide variety of goodies, but this handsome fellow is seen eating one of their favorites, the wild almond. One pair had been handraised before the necessary permits were obtained for their release and so imprinted with humans and often land on the railings of the cottage verandas to see what you are up to. Guests are sternly instructed by Peter not to feed these wayward guys and to shoo them away by waving a blue towel at them. He has trained them to be afraid of blue towels and this will hopefully help them to return to their new “free range” lifestyle. I developed my own version of adverse conditioning which involved frequent flashes from my camera strobe. The great photos I obtained were just an unfortunate byproduct of the process.

 

Reptiles abound in this area and as they grow, they must shed their old skin to make way for the new (in much the same way that I need larger pants when I eat too many pieces of Tres Leche Cake). I caught this little fellow when he was in the pants and vest stage of his transformation. Not exactly Demi Moore in the Stripper, but attractive in his own right.

 

This baby white faced monkey was still nursing, but he sees mom eating her favorite palm nut berries and demands a taste. It looks like the babies are born with full sized ears and gradually grow into them. The babies ride on the mother’s back as she swings through the jungle on her daily rounds.

 

Called “ Perisoso ” or “Lazy” in Spanish, these three toed sloths are active in the daytime, unlike the two toed sloths which are nocturnal. They like to eat the tender new leaves of the Secropia tree and only come down to the ground about once a week for a bathroom break and to buy beer, chips, DVD movies and other essential supplies. You will notice that their fur has a coating of green algae that helps to fend off insects and provides additional camouflage. These are one of my favorite critters because, unlike IRS employees, they always seem to have a smile on their face. This particular image was taken in the early morning after an all night rainstorm and before this fellow had a chance to dry out in the welcome sunshine.

 

The next issue will pick up here in Arenal, but I’ll close with a shot of a beautiful bird called the Jacamar that we found in the jungle about 30 minutes from the lodge.

 

 

Issue #1 (Nov-Dec 2005)

Hello and welcome to my new experiment, the “Slozblog” Travel Letter. I wanted to share some of my travel experiences and photos with our friends and decided to give this a try. We hope you enjoy it.

Jeanie and I arrived in Costa Rica on Halloween, and in answer to the question on all your minds….Yes, we both wore costumes on the plane. Jeanie was dressed as a Red Rumped Tanager and I was costumed as a Middle Eastern terrorist. In retrospect, my outfit did cause a bit more excitement than I had planned, but the passengers on the aircraft were amazingly generous in filling up my Trick or Treat bag with candy, bags of nuts, wallets, watches and loose change. Our reception at the airport in San Jose was very friendly but I’m not sure that all of the other passengers were treated to the same strip search that I got.

Our first stop after being released from jail was Tiskita Jungle Lodge in far Southwestern Costa Rica, about an hour from the Panama border. This place was amazing with fantastic birds and tons of monkeys. Each room came equipped with one or two scorpions and ours seemed to like to hang out in the shower or sink. We spent three and a half weeks there and then on to the Arenal region and our “Home Away from Home”, the Arenal Observatory Lodge. I’m sitting in our room now as the sun rises on the Arenal Volcano and the Howler Monkeys are calling from the surrounding forest. Not a bad way to start the day!

Well, more about our adventures later, but now it’s time for a few images. This first batch was taken at Tiskita.

This little guy was at the top of my list of critters that I wanted to see and photograph in Tiskita, the Red Capped Manakin. They seemed like kindred spirits as they always a crazy look in their eyes, the Charlie Mansons of the feathered world. During the mating season, they establish a Lek, which is a small territory of about 20 or 30 meters and the males show off for the ladies by doing a “Moon Walk” along the branches a la Michael Jackson. The best dancers get the hottest chicks (Ain’t that always the way!) We will be returning to Tiskita during the March nesting season and hope to see this mating behavior first hand.

Squirrel Monkeys (Mono Titi in Spanish) were very common in Tiskita, but are endangered in the rest of Costa Rica with only about 2000 individuals remaining in the country. They are my favorite monkey both for their great faces and fearless flying acrobatics in the trees. They eat fruit and insects and would sneak into the kitchen in Tiskita looking for ripe plantains. One day we saw the cook chasing one around the kitchen and the owner, Peter Aspinall assured us that this was a defensive maneuver and not a preliminary to Monkey Burgers for lunch. This shot was taken after a night and morning of heavy rain and this happy fellow was working his way through a ripe guava for breakfast.

Nope, this isn’t a Photoshop trick; these two Chestnut Mandible Toucans hung out together every day. They are sitting in a Secropia tree and you can see the fruit hanging down behind them. The fruit is very high in protein and the fruit and leaves are the main source of food in the Jungle and shared by birds, monkeys, sloths and Coati Mundi. It’s great fun to watch toucans eat as they pick off a berry or piece of secropia fruit with the tip of their beak and then flip it in the air and catch it in their mouth. Kind of like flipping peanuts in the air and catching them.

This last shot is one of the “Famous Swimming Pool Frogs of Tiskita”   They use a no chemical purification system in the pool at Tiskita and almost every night you could see two or three of these tree frogs cheerfully swimming and floating about in the pool. It certainly makes going for a night swim an interesting experience! The best part is watching them do a two and a half gainer off the high board into the pool. There is a group of six international monkeys lining the side of the pool holding up scorecards after each dive. Ok, I lied. They really aren’t international monkeys, they all come from Costa Rica .

 

That’s all for now, but I will send an update next chance I get and Jeanie and I send you all our best wishes. I’ll leave you with a parting shot that I took a couple of nights ago from my bedroom window here at the Arenal Lodge.

 

All Images © Phil Slosberg/
CritterImage Productions 2006